MOTHER MARY APPEARS IN EGYPT

On April 2, 1968, two mechanics working in a city garage across the street from St. Mary's Church of Zeitoun, Egypt, were startled to see what appeared to be a nun dressed in white standing on top of the large dome at the center of the roof. Fearful that something might happen to the sister, one of the men ran into the church to get a priest, the other telephoned for a police emergency squad.

When the priest ran from the church to look up at the dome, he was the first to recognize it as a manifestation of Mother Mary. The image of the Blessed Mother remained in full view of the priest, the two mechanics, and a growing crowd of excited witnesses for several minutes, then disappeared.

The news of the Holy Mother's visitation spread rapidly from Zeitoun, a suburb of Cairo, to the greater metropolitan population of over six million. While the religious makeup of Cairo is largely Muslim, there is a fairly large Coptic Catholic minority. Thousands began to gather at the majestic church of Zeitoun at Tomanbey Street and Khalil Lane to see for themselves the place where the Queen of Heaven had come to Earth.

Amazingly, for the next three years, the visions of the Holy Mother manifested sporadically atop the dome of the church. Millions claimed to witness the visitations, and numerous photographs of the spiritual phenomenon can be found on the Internet.

Although thousands of people claimed miraculous cures as they looked upward at the glowing figure of the Holy Mother, no one announced receiving any special messages from her. No visionaries ever claimed to have received any warnings of impending disasters or relayed any admonitions from Mother Mary to repent or to cease sinning.